Chapter 2

~ Troll's Dilemma ~


"KRISTOFF AND ANNA'S HOME—!"

Wait for it… wait for it… Anna braced herself.

A boulder flew at her. Whum! She caught it with a hug. Hah! I'm getting the hang of this!

The breath was knocked out of her as a second one barrelled into her side.

"Hey hey hey! Guys, stop!" Powerful arms steadied her. "She's not used to flying hugs yet!" Kristoff said.

A collective groan sounded out and every boulder halted in mid-roll. They quivered, and unfurled into squat bodies with stocky limbs, grinning monkey-like faces and enormous noses. Twenty trolls surrounded them, and more were rolling into sight still.

"C'mere you!" Kristoff knelt, sweeping his parents into a hug. Cliff and Bulda giggled and ruffled his hair. Then, Sven charged in, bowling them over in a mass of laughing bodies and sprawling limbs. This was the sixth time Anna was seeing this, yet every reunion between the unlikely family was a heartfelt one; such was the bond formed from kindred spirits who once shared in grief, and later, healing.

Anna smiled a bittersweet smile. I jumped at Mama and Papa whenever they returned from a long trip too.

She pivoted on her heels, drinking in her surroundings. She still couldn't fathom how this valley worked; if only Cliff allowed her to bring her old tutors, or Isabelle here. Steaming geysers warmed her while stone and moss was the very ground. A lavender hue permeated the air, sweeter than even her best perfumes. But it was the swirls of purple-and-green light dancing across the night sky which always left her breathless with awe.

This place possessed magic; a raw and primordial force which seeped through every vine, pebble, and grain of soil. It was little wonder why the winter never breached here. There was hope for Elsa yet. If magic lived in her sister and in the valley, then it surely lived elsewhere too.

Tiny arms wrapped around her ankle. Anna saw two pairs of wide, beady eyes staring up at her. "Cuddle time?" she said, pulling Stony and Pebbles into her chest. She couldn't remember the names of all the younglings still, but these two were too adorable and bold for her to forget.

"Where is Olaf?" Stony peeped behind her.

"He's on the North Mountain, keeping his little brother company," Sven (actually Kristoff) answered.

"If being thirty times bigger and nastier than your brother is called 'little', then yeah I suppose Marshmallow is," Kristoff said.

"Take off your clothes, I'll wash them!" Bulda tugged at his pants. "You too, Anna! Clothes off!"

An image of the trolls stripping Kristoff kicking and screaming filled her head. She'd have laughed, had the next thought not been of them doing the same to her.

Kristoff raised his hands. "Guys, it's not polite to say that to a girl."

Anna blushed.

"Oh c'mon," Bulda perched herself on another troll's head. "What's there to be embarrassed about? We're practically family! Surely you two have already–"

A crack rang through the air as Kristoff slapped his palms. "Okay! We are not touching this topic. Seriously, guys. We need to–"

"Can we marry you here? Today? Right now?" Cliff said.

Anna racked her brains for a polite excuse, but seeing forty hopeful grins bobbing up and down, all she could manage was, "Uh..."

They took that as a 'yes'. And just like before, Anna and Kristoff were lifted off their feet to be planted into a ring of rocky bodies while an elated Sven pranced about. The trolls clamoured around, planting kisses and hugs. Somewhere in-between, Anna was sure she squeezed the message 'get Grandpabbie' through before they were swept back into the whirlwind.

A tug-of-war over their clothes came next. That day, Anna learnt she possessed superhuman strength when the alternative was to end up naked before a mob of dancing trolls. When the clothing fiasco ended (they kept everything on, barely), the trolls dug a gigantic pit and declared it as their winter getaway home.

Kristoff groaned.

"They mean well! It's just their way of showing love," Anna whispered as they warded off four eager ones from draping a 'passion-inducing-cape' on them. "Look at it this way, at least no one's breaking into song."

Bulda popped up between them. "What's the issue, dear? Why're you holding back from such a girl? Is it the jumpy way she walks~"

Cliff leapt onto his back. "~or the cheery way she talks?"

Kristoff groaned again.


Okay, maybe their way of showing love needs work, Anna thought.

Dances, games, and some goopy moss-like food buffet (which was strangely tasty) passed in a blur. Kristoff was slumped against what Anna hoped was an actual boulder, clutching his head. Her belly was close to bursting, and every bone ached. But Anna had never been more alert.

At last, he came. A ripple passed through the dense bodies of trolls, and they parted for their king.

"Grandpa!" Kristoff stumbled to his feet.

Pabbie nodded and clasped Kristoff's hands. He turned to her, his eyes narrowing. "Something ails you, Your Highness. Yet I sense it is no spell or illness."

Anna returned an uneasy smile. His knowledge of magic eclipsed all of Arendelle. If anyone in the world could help, it was this ancient, venerable troll. Yet, words eluded her now. The last time they met, tensions had escalated; that he'd stolen her memories as a child wasn't something she took lightly.

"I do not see Her Majesty today. Is she doing well?" Pabbie ventured.

"Well, of course. She's a great queen! You should see what Arendelle's like these days, there's so many people now that we're gonna need more streets soon! I mean, I don't know much about economics, but everyone's saying that our kingdom's richer than ever. And–" A lump formed in her throat.

Somehow, Pabbie understood. He held his palms out. "I'll help Elsa anyway I can."

Anna swallowed a lungful of warm, valley air. "Is there anyone else besides Elsa who has magic?"

At once, the trolls mumbled among themselves in palpable excitement. Anna's heart lifted. There is someone!

Pabbie's eyebrows crinkled. "Why, my dear, do you want to know?"

"I want to find them."

"Then I cannot help you."

"What? But, why?" There were a hundred other answers Anna had imagined, but his refusal was not one of them.

"Haven't you ever met anyone else?" Kristoff said.

"The answer is not one which you would like. Even if there was, I do not see how it helps Elsa."

Anna's voice became tight. "Please, Grandpabbie. All these years, Elsa suffered for nothing. Things would've been different if we knew better."

The surrounding trolls hushed up. Beside her, Kristoff tensed.

"How would knowing have helped?" Pabbie said.

"How could it not? If someone with magic had just trained Elsa, she wouldn't have isolated herself in the first place." Or... Anna bit her tongue to stop the words from spilling. Or if you had just told us love was the answer.

Pabbie closed his eyes.

"And what about after my parents died?" Anna said. Her sister didn't see the wreckage survivors, the envoys pouring into the castle to offer condolences, or partake in shared mourning with Kai, Gerda and everyone else. In Elsa's eyes, Papa and Mama simply stepped through the door and vanished. Trapped in this abyss, her only company was the cold walls of her room. How long had Elsa clung on to hope that they would return? Would be there to share the burden of her magic?

How long had Elsa prayed that I would understand?

Anna clenched her teeth, unsure if her anger was directed more at Pabbie or herself. "Why didn't you come?"

"Your Highness, I cannot always guide you through the door. All I can do is to show you your path."

Easy for you to say. Anna steered her gaze away. "Elsa lost her entire childhood. She lost thirteen years of her life. It's not fair."

"She needs more time to heal," Pabbie said.

"But there must be something more I can do. So we– I, I need to know if there's anyone else." Anna knelt to level her gaze with him. "There is, isn't there?"

The troll king grimaced. He shuffled away, kneading his crystal necklace, dragging his emerald cape across the ground. Anna shivered. She had never seen the trolls so solemn. Just as she began to fear he'd leave, his voice rumbled through the silence.

"Many years ago, two parents much like your own came. They spoke of their child who possessed magic, and asked for help to suppress it. I told them to bring their child here."

"So there is someone!"

Pabbie spun around. "They never returned."

"Why not?" Anna said, aghast.

"I do not know. But they feared this magic, Your Highness. They were so utterly terrified. It was nothing like how your parents feared Elsa's. I could sense that this was something darker."

Dramatic gasps from the trolls filled their ears.

Anna threw Kristoff a glance. He raised his hands. "I don't even remember this!"

"This happened before you lived here." Pabbie nodded reassuringly. "You've kept nothing from Anna."

"But now we know. Elsa isn't alone," Anna said.

Pabbie beckoned her closer. She knelt, and he cupped his coarse fingers over hers. "Your Highness. Anna. Child. Listen to me, please. Your sister is special, and it is more than just magic which makes her so. Her selflessness, grace, wisdom, and most of all– love for you, are what make her who she is."

You're right. There's no one in the world who even comes close to Elsa.

"But not everyone is like her. Not all who has magic will refrain from abusing it."

"You've never met this person! How could you say that?"

"My dear, they called this child a demon," Pabbie whispered.

She paled, drawing her hands back. Elsa was accused of being a monster when her powers emerged during the coronation. It was this fright and hostility which drove her to flee her own kingdom.

"Then all the more I must try."

"Come on, Grandpa must have his reasons for not telling." Kristoff held her arm.

"You heard what he said! What kind of people calls their own child a demon? What if he or she's being imprisoned somewhere, pleading for help, or… or… dying?"

Her fiancé let go. Clearly, he had not thought that far.

"I do not know if you can even find them." Pabbie shrugged. "They came from another land."

"Where?" Anna tried to mask her surprise, having thought knowledge of the trolls to be limited to her court.

"Would you not reconsider this?"

She shook her head fiercely. "Elsa deserves to know others like her."

"Do you truly believe this is the best way to help her?"

"Yes, so just tell me already! Can't you–" Anna's voice caught. The elderly troll had crossed his arms, and his eyes flashed with pain and regret. But there was something else too – the same look Papa gave her when she tore his favourite painting.

I've crossed a line.

Kristoff's hand was warm and firm on her shoulder. She bit in a harsh retort, opening her mouth to apologize…

…A younger Elsa knelt on the floor weeping. Hopeless and alone due to her magic and the fear it wrought. All of this despite living in the protection of the castle with loving parents. And now they expected her to abandon someone else to a worse fate?

"Where?" Anna locked onto Pabbie's eyes with her own.

He sighed aloud. "Your people call it Weselton."

Horror clogged Anna's throat. Behind her, the trolls fell into a furore again.

"–A demon kid?"

"–Isn't that the kingdom that tried to murder Her Majesty?"

"–I remember those two! The father sure looked mean."

Anna dipped forward, curling her arms around the ancient troll. "Thank you, Grandpabbie. Really, thank you so much. And I'm sorry too."

He touched her cheek. "My dear, listen to me. What Elsa needs now, more than anything, is you."

"I know." She drew back from the hug. "That's why I'm doing this." She peered at Kristoff.

He averted his gaze, his mouth set into a harsh line. He ached to spend time with his family. It was only right, and she should be telling him that they could stay a little longer. She dug her fingernails into her palm. She should.

"Let's go." Anna allowed herself to be selfish for this one instance. She'd make it up to them later. Elsa waited thirteen years to be saved; she wouldn't let this child suffer even a second longer.


The murmurings died down as Kristoff, Anna and Sven left the valley. One after another, the trolls curled up. Cliff and Bulda shared a kiss before they too, surrendered themselves to the Earth Father's embrace.

Pabbie never turned away, not till the figures of the three shrunk into dots too small even for his eyes. Something stirred in his heart then, which left his cheeks running wet and warm.

"In time, you'll understand, Anna. Not all magic is as beautiful as Elsa's. There are some so vile that you cannot even imagine."